Harvard University 2024 Environmental Fellows Program, USA

The Harvard University Center for the Environment (HUCE) created the Environmental Fellows program to enable recent doctorate recipients to use and expand Harvard’s extraordinary resources to tackle complex environmental problems. The Environmental Fellows will work for two years with Harvard faculty members in any school or department while also strengthening connections across the University’s academic disciplines.

“Harvard is committed to fostering the development of talented scholars with an interest in environmental research. The Environmental Fellows at Harvard work with some of the University’s leading faculty, creating linkages across research disciplines and professional schools, and benefit from all that Harvard has to offer.”

Dan Schrag, Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology, Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering, Professor of Public Policy Co-Director, Science, Technology and Public Policy Program, Harvard Kennedy School

• Table of Content
• About Harvard University
• Harvard University Environmental Fellows Program
• Aim and Benefits of Harvard University Environmental Fellows Program
• Harvard University Environmental Fellows Program Courses
• Requirements for Harvard University Environmental Fellows Program Qualification
• Interview date, Process and Venue for Harvard University Environmental Fellows Program
• Documents Required for Application
• Application Deadline
• How to Apply

About Harvard University

Harvard is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States, established in 1636 by vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was named after the College’s first benefactor, the young minister John Harvard of Charlestown, who upon his death in 1638 left his library and half his estate to the institution. A statue of John Harvard stands today in front of University Hall in Harvard Yard, and is perhaps the University’s best known landmark. Harvard University has 12 degree-granting Schools in addition to the Radcliffe Institute for Advan... continue reading

Harvard University Environmental Fellows Program

Aim and Benefits of Harvard University Environmental Fellows Program

The fellowship includes a salary of $87,500 per year, employee health insurance eligibility, up to $2,500 reimbursement for relocation expenses, and a $2,500 annual allowance for travel and other professional expenses. 

HUCE organizes a co-curricular program to ensure that the fellows get to know each other and each other’s work. All fellows join in biweekly dinners along with Harvard faculty and a speaker from amongst the Harvard faculty.

Harvard University Environmental Fellows Program Courses

• Environment

Requirements for Harvard University Environmental Fellows Program Qualification

The Environmental Fellows Program is open to anyone with a doctorate or comparable terminal degree awarded between May 2020 and August 2024. HUCE expects to award approximately six fellowships for the 2024 cohort. 

Basic Qualifications:

• Candidates for 2024 Environmental Fellowships should have received their terminal degree between May 2020 and August 2024. (Fellows must have filed their dissertation before starting their appointment in September 2024.)
• Candidates with a doctorate or equivalent in any field are eligible, and they may propose research projects in any discipline. Applicants without a Ph.D. may apply if they have studied in fields where the Ph.D. is not the typical terminal degree. All successful candidates will be able to demonstrate experience performing scholarly research.
• Candidates may have received their degrees at any university in the world. Foreign nationals are eligible for fellowships, though study at Harvard requires proficiency in English.

Additional Qualifications:

• Each candidate must secure a commitment from one or more Harvard faculty members to serve as a mentor and to provide office or lab space for the two-year fellowship.
• Candidates who received terminal degrees from Harvard, and post-docs currently working at Harvard are eligible for the fellowship provided their research and host arrangements take them in new directions and forge new connections within the University. Harvard candidates should not propose to continue to work with the same professors or lab groups with whom they are currently associated. No candidate should propose to work extensively with his or her thesis advisor.
• Successful candidates should be prepared to commit to work at Harvard for the full two years of the fellowship. This fellowship requires residency in the Cambridge area and any fieldwork trip must be scheduled for the summer or January recess.

Interview date, Process and Venue for Harvard University Environmental Fellows Program

• Applicant’s prior academic and professional success and their potential contribution to scholarship or practice
  • Project proposals are carefully evaluated by a committee of HUCE faculty. The proposed project should represent an independent line of inquiry, clearly extending beyond the candidate’s PhD work as well as the host’s ongoing research. The relevance of the proposed work for addressing environmental issues, along with demonstration of excellent potential for intellectual achievement, are critical factors in the selection process.  
• The selection committee will select a group of fellows in 2024 who will complement those selected last year, creating a group of approximately a dozen scholars with a diverse set of academic interests, skills, and backgrounds. Recipients—and hosts—may include people with degrees in the sciences, economics, law, government, public policy, public health, medicine, design, and the full array of humanities. Their research topics will be equally varied.
• Harvard candidates: those receiving terminal degrees from Harvard and post-docs currently working at Harvard are eligible for the fellowship provided their research and host arrangements take them in new directions that are significantly distinct from their PhD research and forge new connections within the University. Harvard candidates should not propose to continue to work with the same professors or groups with whom they are currently associated, nor should their proposal be an extenuation of their current work.
• Interdisciplinary research projects are encouraged, although this is not a requirement for the fellowship, and candidates with interests in a single discipline are also encouraged to apply.
• Host’s commitment: Further important considerations are the host faculty member’s enthusiasm for the proposed project and fellow, the host’s ability to mentor the fellow, and their ability to provide office space and a productive work environment.
• Interview: A select group of applicants will be asked to further discuss their proposal over video with the selection committee.

Documents Required for Application

1. Curriculum Vitae
2. Statement of Research
3. Publication

Optional Documents

1. Publication 2
2. Publication 3

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Application Deadline

How to Apply

1. Please complete the online application form by January 10, 2024 at 5 p.m. (ET) and attach the relevant supporting documents as PDFs:
• curriculum vitae including list of publications;
• detailed research proposal where applicants should explain their specific reasons for applying to a Harvard residential environmental fellowship (maximum of five pages, references counted separately). Note: While applicants should discuss the proposal with their potential faculty hosts, the final product should clearly be the work of the applicant; and
• up to three publications/writing samples.

2. Three letters of reference, including one from the applicant’s dissertation adviser. NOTE: The ARIeS application system will only send recommendation letter requests via email after the application has been officially submitted. Please be in touch with your recommenders in advance so that they can quickly upload their letters after they receive the link. It only takes a few minutes for them to do so. Recommenders will have extra time after the deadline (January 19, 2024) to submit letters.

3. A letter of support is also required from the applicant’s host committing to serve as a mentor and explaining his or her commitment to the proposed research, including the provision of office or lab space. Applicants are encouraged to ask their hosts to email letters of reference as PDFs or, if necessary, as Word documents attached to the emails. Hosts also have extra time after the deadline (January 19, 2024) to submit letters and should send them directly to the attention of Cayla Jett at the Center at [email protected].

You will receive an automated email once you have submitted this online form with attachments. The Center will notify applicants individually to confirm receipt of a complete application (online form, letters of reference, and letter of support).

For more details visit: Harvard University  website.